Friday, December 4, 2009

A Very Monkey Christmas, the new PBS special featuring my kids' favorite little monkey Curious George, premiered just before Thanksgiving. Thanks to PBS, we were lucky enough to get a copy for review a little earlier than that! Plus PBS sent me a free copy to watch and another free copy to give away to a reader, so lucky me and lucky you!

I knew that because my kids love Curious George that this would be a hit in my house, and I was not mistaken. It's a very welcome addition to our Grinch-Rudolf-Charlie Brown rotation, both for the kids and the parents. In the special George and the Man in the Yellow Hat fret over what to get each other for Christmas. They solve their problems and discover the true meaning of the holidays with the help of the whole cast of friends. There are Christmas songs throughout the special, with a few originals thrown in for good measure!

And in the spirit of the season, leave a comment and you'll be entered to win your very own brand new copy of A Very Monkey Christmas, guaranteed to arrive in your mailbox before Christmas!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

A few weeks ago I was asked to test toys for a company called ebeanstalk. They sent out a number of baby toys and toys for 1 year olds to toy experts (moms) for their review. While ebeanstalk picks great toys, they like to get some help from the real experts - moms - and we help them select great learning toys. The toy they sent was Jumbo Knob Wooden Puzzle from Melissa & Doug who makes lots of ">wooden toys.

My daughter, who will be two this weekend, loves puzzles. As in L-O-V-E-S them. So she was quite smitten with it the moment I took it out of the package. Even though assembling the puzzle was quite easy for her, I was able to ask her questions about the shapes and colors of the puzzle pieces to keep her interested for a bit longer than she would have been just putting it together. Additionally, my 3.5 year old son wanted in on the action. The puzzle is simple enough that he could easily participate in quizzing my daughter as well. It was more than adorable to hear him ask her, 'What color is this square, Lucy?'

We have an arsenal of puzzles in our house, and this one keeps pace with the other favorites in our collection. Which is pretty impressive to me, considering it doesn't make noises or anything like some of our others. I enjoy wooden toys in general, and I think Melissa & Doug makes some high quality products, though I would like to see more of them made in the USA. That said, the Melissa & Doug website does have a full section devoted to safety, with each individual item's general conformance certificate available for inspection.

Overall, I think this puzzle is fun and age appropriate for a one year old child. Its simplicity would make it an ideal puzzle for a first birthday gift.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Last year we planted our first garden. Despite some rookie mistakes, it was a rather successful endeavor. All winter we planned and plotted, started composting and got excited for the new gardening year.

We planted our seedling less than two weeks ago. Last week they looked like this. Just one week later here they are!

I'm almost worried that they'll grow too big before they are able to go into the ground!

While I'm excited about all of the tasty food we'll have come summer, what's really got me jazzed is how involved the kids want to be. Sam has been all over me to help plant seeds and help dad dig in the dirt. I asked his advice about what to grow and he actually suggested something! Peas! We're growing peas at the request of my child! Beyond growing our own veggies, we're also thinking about joining a co-op, or donating our excess to a local food bank.

There is a lot to do, and there is a lot to think about. I'm glad I have the company of my family to accompany me on these journeys.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

"The way this fun little gadget works is really cool. It looks like a thick pen, which is easy for little hands to hold. Once you install the software on your computer you can download books onto it just like an ipod. But it doesn't just read the book. When you touch the tip of the book to the pages it can read them or you can use it to play games! "

Since then not only have we have purchased additional titles for our own library, but we've given the Tag Reader as a gift to several other friends and relatives. Every time we always hear that both the kids and the parents love it. I even suggested it to an indecisive grandma at Target one day, after hearing her wonder out loud what she should buy for her grand daughter.

In conjunction with National Reading Month, Leap Frog has launched the 1 Million Reading Hours program to encourage literacy and families reading together. To achieve this goal, Leap Frog has been kind enough to offer one of my faithful readers their very own Tag Reader with five book titles for their collection. In addition, Leap Frog will also send an expanded memory Tag Reader and ten book titles to their local library for community use.

All you have to do is leave a comment by Monday March 30th at 12 noon EST stating how much time you wish to pledge. The click over to the pledge page and record your pledge there as well. No registration is required, but you do need a valid email address. On March 31st a random winner will be selected! It's just that easy!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

When I was first contacted to do product reviews for Eden Fantasys (I know and they know it's misspelled) I thought it was some kind of spam. I get several pitches a week and most of them are garbage. However, the gentleman who emailed me seemed like a real, live person, and he was friendly, too!

So then I had to really think things over. I mean, was I really interested in writing about sex toys. Here, where anyone (my mother comes to mind) might be able to find me? Did I really want to put that part of my life out there on the interwebs? It took a long time, but I finally decided that if Kristen can do, well then so can I! Plus, I'm pregnant and in about three or four months my husband isn't going to want anything to do with me physically. It's not his fault, it's just a mental thing, but a girl has needs, you know?

So if you are my mother, or anyone else who isn't interested in reading about thing I may or may not do in the privacy of my bedroom, then please click away. Go visit the totally innocent, adorable site Cute Overload!

--

--

--

--

--

--

--

The first sex toy I ever used was a plain old vibrator. And it was lame. Mostly it sat in a drawer. So when I got to choose my first item for review over at Eden Fantasys I tried to pick something I really thought I would like to use. Because of it's popularity in mainstream culture, I decided to go with a rabbit style toy, but I also figured why not throw in some other gadgets as well. Luckily, the Orgasmic Foreplay Kit 1 featured not only a multi-speed rotating rabbit vibrator, but also a multi-use probe sleeve with a removable micro-stimulator. Check it out here.

After a few weeks of really running it through the ringer, I can say that the multi-speed rotating rabbit vibrator is a winner. Let's just say it gets the job done in record time, every time. Personally, I think every gal should have something like this in the night stand. It's a bit on the loud side when you turn on the rotation, but not so bad when only in vibrate mode. It has multiple intensity settings so you can easily work your way up to climax, and the rotation mode can go in either direction for even more variation. I did find it a little odd and a bit humorous that in order to add texture the vibrator, they covered with raised pictures of fruit. Somehow, a pineapple just doesn't scream sexy to me, but you can't really see it when you're using it.

Since I'm pregnant and puking a lot of the time, we haven't had much opportunity to really use the kit together. I have to act when the mood strikes me, and often it's when the hubby isn't home. The micro-stimulator was helpful when used in conjunction with a partner, but maybe a little too powerful on the high setting. The sleeve looked interesting, but to be honest I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I think that since the battery pack was attached via a wire, I was a little more awkward with it, as opposed to the rabbit vibrator, which has the batteries contained in the base.

Overall, I think this kit is a great way to start out for someone who isn't too savvy in the realm of sex toys. With all of the options, you'll figure out pretty easily and quickly what you like and then you can move on from there. I know that's what I plan to do!

Friday, February 20, 2009

This is my cat Simon. He is awesome. He loves people, he is insanely patient with the kids, he's neat and clean and doesn't shed too much. His one and only negative quality is plant eating. I could buy this guy all the cat grass in the world and he turns his nose up at it, but if I bring home as much as one little house plant it gets devoured within minutes. So it follows that his favorite place to sleep isn't on the furniture, but as close as possible to the newest addition to the buffet!

Luckily, I care more about my out door plants than I do the indoor varieties!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Every year my husband works on New Year's Eve, which means that most of the time he is off on New Year's Day. Since we are those people who decorate waaaaaaaay back in early December (or late November, occasionally) our tree is usually crispy by the 24th. With two kids and one cat, bits of wrapping paper are tucked under and in every little nook and cranny. Toys are strewn about and the animatronicSanta in the front yard is half burnt out.

It's really quite tragic.

So we spend the day sorting and piling, packing and filing. He's in charge of the outside and I take care of the inside, with a little (and I mean a little) help from the kids. Once everything is safely stashed in the basement in their big red and green tubs we haul out that vacuum and start sucking up the needles. Luckily, the kids like this part and are quick to point out any strays that I missed.

Once everything is finally clean and the kids are in bed we enjoy the champagne we missed out on the night before!